Black Gmc Acadia on 2040-cars

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Ford’s Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch win the 2022 Autoblog Technology of the Year award

The 2022 Autoblog Technology of the Year award goes to Ford for the Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch hauling and towing features found in the F-150 lineup. This new technology, as tested in the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning, is a boon to pickup truck owners. Not only will it make observing your truck’s maximum loads easier and more intuitive, but it will also ensure youÂ’re hauling and towing in the safest-possible manner. We began the process with a long list of features to test and whittle down. Technologies like MercedesÂ’ new electric turbocharger, GMÂ’s Super Cruise with added towing capability and many more went through the consideration process, but we finally whittled the field down to just three finalists. They are: the GMC Hummer EV with its flashy CrabWalk four-wheel-steer technology, the Genesis GV60 with its facial recognition/fingerprint start technology, and of course FordÂ’s trucking gear. As is the norm for our Technology of the Year award, three main questions are asked, and editors assign point values based on how well the technologies perform in testing. How significant is this tech? How well does it work? And new for this year: Consider the Wow Factor. With the scores tallied, the Ford tech earned 123 points, topping the Hummer (117 points) and GV60 (108). This is the second straight win for Ford, which won the 2021 TOY Award with its Pro Power Onboard charging feature.  Ford joins Tesla (2014, 2016) as the only two-time winner of our Tech of the Year Award, which dates to 2013. Kia, Cadillac, Tesla, BMW, Chevy, Chrysler and Audi technologies are among the previous winners. 2022 Technology of the Year testing View 16 Photos While systems that tow and haul may not seem to be the latest or most sophisticated tech, they remain essential and Ford uses things like the infotainment system, taillights and the Ford mobile app to create a forward-looking experience Henry Ford would never have dreamed of when the first Model Ts were outfitted with beds for farm and war duty in 1917. Even 10 years ago, integrating tech in this manner would have seemed futuristic, but Ford pulls it off. “FordÂ’s clever towing and hauling features earned our award this year because they are easy to use, easy to understand and simply make your life as a truck owner better,” Autoblog Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore said. “It was a competitive field this year, with HummerÂ’s CrabWalk and GenesisÂ’s Biometrics features both winning strong support.

Should heavy-duty pickup trucks have window stickers with fuel mileage estimates?

If you were to stroll into your nearest Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Nissan, or Ram dealership, you'd find a bunch of pickup trucks. Most of those would have proper window stickers labeled with things like base prices, options prices, location of manufacture, and, crucially, fuel economy estimates. But you'd also run across a number of heavy-duty trucks with no such fuel mileage data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn't require automakers to publish the valuable miles-per-gallon measurement for vehicles with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. That makes it difficult for consumers to compare behemoths powered by turbocharged diesel engines – between one another, and between smaller, gasoline-fueled trucks. Consumer Reports doesn't think it should be this way, and it's spearheading an effort (PDF link) to get the government to require manufacturers to publish fuel economy estimates. In its own testing, CR found that heavy-duty pickups powered by Ford's Power Stroke, GM's Duramax, and FCA's Cummins diesel engines (which doesn't include the Ram's EcoDiesel) get worse fuel mileage than their lighter-duty gas-powered siblings. We're not so sure HD-truck buyers are unaware of this fact – big diesels don't really come into their own until big loads are placed in their beds or attached to their trailer hitches. Under heavy workloads, the diesel trucks will almost certainly return greater efficiency than a similar gas-powered truck. What's more, HD trucks with lumbering diesels in general make the driver feel more confident while towing due to greater torque at low engine RPM than gas trucks. They also offer greater max-weight limits. Still, we agree EPA fuel mileage estimates should be offered for heavy-duty pickups. And we think the comparisons provided by Consumer Reports might be interesting to potential buyers. Click here to see the results of CR's tests, and let us know what you think using the poll below. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty: First Drive View 22 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Read This Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Fuel Efficiency Truck Commercial Vehicles Diesel Vehicles poll gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd

2020 GMC Acadia AT4 Review | A soft-roader in steel-toed boots

For carmakers today, the perfect lineup would be focused almost entirely on trucks and crossovers, favoring profitability at the expense of diversity. Just look at FCA’s Ram and Jeep showrooms. In the General Motors portfolio, that brand is GMC, with not a car to be found in its lineup and several body-on-frame offerings meant to take a serious beating. It should be a license to print money. But a lineup of trucks and SUVs isnÂ’t enough. Some folks want the rough-and-tumble edge of an off-road vehicle, albeit one that can still credibly serve duty in the school pickup line. Enter the AT4 trim level, an off-road package that spans the gap between the GMC's upscale professional image and the off-road oriented buyer. The 2020 GMC Acadia AT4 is the latest member of the family AT4 slots in between the mid-grade SLT and the range-topping Denali, but simply saying itÂ’s the second-most expensive Acadia variant isnÂ’t really doing it justice. If the SLT trim is understated, and the Denali trim opulent, the AT4 trim promises ruggedness and adventure – even if it canÂ’t deliver it.  The Acadia is definitely a soft-roader and AT4 doesnÂ’t do much to change that – itÂ’s effectively an appearance package. It adds a unique grille, 17-inch wheels and AT4 badges — all blacked out — plus a set of Continental TerrainContact A/T tires engineered to offer a comfortable ride while still enabling some off-pavement excursions. There are several unique interior treatments as well, including “AT4” embroidery on the seats, regardless of whether you go with the base upholstery or the upgraded perforated leather ($1,000) that was added to our test vehicle. Note that we didnÂ’t mention anything beyond the small wheels and meaty tires that would actually make the AT4 any better off pavement. ThereÂ’s no extra ground clearance (it remains a meager 7.2 inches), low range 4x4 system or suspension enhancement to be found here. This would be a departure from other GMC AT4 models, including the Sierra 1500 and upcoming 2021 Yukon, which get extra ground clearance, underbody protection and a rugged suspension, but it won't be an outlier. The similarly soft-roading Terrain AT4 has already been announced.  Yet, off-road models tend to get hammered with on-road handling and ride quality criticism and here's where the Acadia AT4 being more of an appearance package pays off.